Thursday, August 30, 2012

We left Douglasville and had a short drive to Nashville, Tennessee. We timed it well and both boys slept. I really enjoyed that ride. The scenery is beautiful and a nice change from flat Illinois.

We checked into our hotel and it was right by a runway of the airport. Our room was on the 8th floor, so we had a great view. Trevor loved watching the airplanes take off and the cars on the highway.

We were pretty short on time in Nashville. We headed over to Opryland hotel, as we were told we had to visit it. We had fun and enjoyed the decor. Im sure its just breathtaking at Christmastime. We went on the boat ride and learned cool facts. All the water we floated on was from around the world. They sent out Jack Daniels bottles and asked states/countries to fill with local water and they had a joining of the waters. They had to do it all over again on the year anniversary of the flood, since it was all washed away.

We had fun, but were a little disappointed it cost $20 to park and $20 for the boat ride. An expensive 2 hours!

After the hotel, we went to Opry Mills and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Trevor loved it and Gavin enjoyed the fish tanks. Of course, we got ice cream at DQ, Daddys fave.

We had grand plans of relaxing in our king size bed, watching a movie after the kids went to bed. Yeah, Im pretty sure we were all passed out by 10. We woke up and found Trevor like this. I have no clue how he got there, but he was sound asleep.

We posed our men for some pics..Trevor has a mug and Gavin has the remote. ;)

We checked out of our hotel around 10 and stopped at DD for donuts. The ride from Nashville to Louisville wasnt too bad. We had our only two hiccups during that stretch. A rock hit the window on the right side and left a hole. Luckily, isnt very large and we dont have to replace the entire window, just fill the spot. Also, Tom got pulled over. We were on the highway, finding the exit for the zoo and he was speeding. The officer glanced at Toms badge and said Have a good day. It was the first time that ever happened and Tom had this goofy smirk on his face for hours.

I still cant believe how great Gavin was. We were really expecting to be miserable and it was such a pleasant surprise!

The Louisville Zoo was awesome!! We simply loved it! There were a lot of cool exhibits, a carousel, tram, the dinosaur trail, splashpark, etc. We could have stayed for hours longer. Although, it was HOT! We were all sweaty messes and Im pretty sure Gavin ended up naked.

Louisville to home was the longest ride while awake. The kids were wiped from the zoo and took a nice nap in the car. We stopped once to grab dinner and were home at 9pm on the dot! It was a mad race to get unpacked and ready for the next day, since we both returned to work bright and early.

The trip was a beautiful mix of draining and fun. I think it took us a full week to recover! We are counting the days until our next family vacation. Walt Disney World-49 days to go!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Ahh, our trip! It was a very special trip that we were so glad to take. It could have been a disaster with the long car ride and 6 children under 3 and all of that..but it was wonderful.

We geared up and left town at 7pm on that Thursday, as planned. Trevor watched a movie and ended up falling asleep around 10. We made awesome time on the drive. We stopped once for gas and to use the bathroom. Gavin slept well and was happy when he was awake. The first feeding of the night, I pumped and gave him a bottle. Around 4:30am, we all stopped to use the bathroom and I fed Gavin. We decided to let Trevor stay up and watch a movie, so he would sleep in with us when we arrived. Tom drove the entire time! I was too anxious to sleep. We got there in 11 hours, with stopping..when our map said it would take 13 hours. We were very happy!

We arrived just before Evan had to go to work. We hugged, talked a bit and then hit the hay. All four of us slept until 12! It felt soo good. The rest of the day was spent playing and loving on Evans kids. Trevor was nuts over their play room. I loved getting hugs and love from the boys and Charlotte and Trevor were so sweet together. Gavin and Stella were adorable. They are about the same size, but her thighs are 3x the size of Gavins. :)

Friday night, Evan and I took a ride to meet her friend that had some party supplies. It was nice talking to her in person and catching up on all the details of the past year.

Saturday morning, I went to get a manicure at Evans fave place..so I could get her a gift card for her birthday gift. We hung around the house until it was time to go to the trios birthday party! It was Toy Story themed and Evan did a great job. The room looked so cute, the weather was perfect and fun was had by all.

We walked outside after the party and got some great pictures. I plan on blowing the one of the boys up and putting it by their train table. :)

We were all pretty wiped after the party. We spent the night relaxing and playing. A few of Evans friends came over and we talked and ate yummy pizza.

These next pictures are out of order. This was Sunday evening. We gave the kids their presents and hung in the boys room. It was mass chaos and it made me so happy. Andrew, Bradley, Charlotte and Trevor are our miracles that brought Evan and I together. I am thankful we were there to celebrate their life and birthday. Gavin and Stella could not have been cuter together, too!

We decided to have Trevor do the good 'ole Pepsi vs. Coke taste test. Caffeine in my 2 year old at almost 10pm? It was vacation! Much to my shock, my sweet son chose Coke! Good thing he wont be drinking pop again for a very long time..

Earlier in the day on Sunday, we went downtown to the Childrens Museum. It was just the 4 boys and it was awesome! They had so much to do and the museum got major points in my eyes because they had the nicest nursing room I have ever seen!

Monday morning, we got up and started to pack up our stuff. Evan and Stephen had to work, so we were home with the kiddos and Grandmother. We dressed them all up in their matching outfits and had great ideas for pics. You can imagine how that went...not well.

Stella was kind enough to offer her hand for Gavin to suck on..

No good pics. :( But, they looked so cute!

We left their home late Monday morning and set out to our next stop, Nashville! I will do another post on our ride back tomorrow. Or maybe the next day.

The trip was too fast and too much fun. In a perfect world, we would live down the block and raise our kids together. For now, we will continue to spend our vacations visiting our great friends. There is talk of them coming up North in 2013, which would make my year. Well, that, and one other thing...

Love you, Evan! Thanks for opening your home to us during such a hectic time in your summer. We cant wait to see all 6 of you again!